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| Photo intitulée Women Party, non datée, palais de Khodayar Khan à Kokand. |
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| Miniature exposée à l'observatoire Ulug Beg à Samarcande représentant Amir Timur et ses neveux à l'occasion de leur mariage à Konigil en 1404. |
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| Maternité, peinture de R.A. Akhmedov (1962) au musée des Beaux-Arts de Tachkent. |
There were thus tapshans at the Soliman Court in 16th century. I would point out that Soliman presided over at the culmination of the economic, military and political power of Ottoman Empire. If Central Asia was never a part of Ottoman Empire, it is its cradle. The tribe from where derives the Ottoman dynasty belongs to the Oghuz branch of the Turks coming from Central Asia, either at the same time as Seldjukids, or probably a little later, pushed westward by Mongols, at the beginning or in the middle of the 13th century (Robert Mantran, Encyclopædia Universalis).
Let us go back to Samarkand. Murodkhon had spoken about the throne of Tamerlan. I had returned at the Gur Emir Mausoleum built by Tamerlan in 1404. Under a dome of bluish Plexiglas is a marble base with the sides engraved floral motives. I tried to represent me the sovereign, sitting cross-legged, dominating his audience on this monolith that symbolises eternity. On the miniatures of this time, we see him on various kinds of platforms, objects rather widespread in the Court. Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, previously mentioned, tells this : "On Thursday, October 9th, Khanzada, the most important wife of Mîrân Châh, eldest son of Timur Beg, hosted a big party where we were invited. The festivities were in the enclosure and in the beautiful tent which belonged to her. By approaching tents, we saw that numerous jars of wine were placed on the ground. We all advanced upon Khanzada, who stood under a parasol. She showed us a platform to sit. She was leaned on three or four pillows arranged on her own platform and, next to her, ladies were sat."
Ladies, wine, it should be noted, by the way, that the life in the Timur Court was rather rejoicing. No rejoicing without drunk men, said the tradition ! Among others rejoicings, let us also point out that Timur liked to build minarets of skulls and was an enthusiat of repeated murders accompanied by a sophisticated cruelty. The one who is now the national hero of Uzbeks had nothing to envy to Gengis Khan as regard mass destruction. But let us put aside the macabre escapades of the Lame and let us keep in mind that in his time, platforms with pillows existed in the Court and was used for agapes. Miniatures do not show the marble base but a kind of plateform reserved for the Prince, on which he takes place as on a throne, to listen the complaints of his subjects, dispense justice and discuss day-to-day matters with his dignitaries. We also see coexisting in the old miniatures several kinds of places having for use the meal, the snack, the meeting with relatives and friends. It is the place of the manifestation of hospitality. Different types can be distinguished : the carpet on the ground, the stone or earth terrace, the raised wooden platform, the platform with armrests, the platform with columns and roof which is close to the pavilion or to the big four-poster bed.
In The Empire of the Steppes, René Grousset quotes Song Yun, a Buddhist monk of the 6th century sent in search of sacred texts and who describes the nomads thus : "They do not live in towns ; their seat of government is a moving camp. Their dwellings are of felt. They move in search of water and pasture, journeying in summer to cool places and in winter to warmer ones. A large felt tent is erected for their king, measuring forty feet a side ; on the inside, the walls are made of woolen rugs. The king's clothes are of ornamented silk, and he sits on a golden bed of which the feet are in a shape of four golden phoenixes." Nomadic tribes have long characterized the population of Central Asia. Until the 16th century, nomadism was in a majority situation. From that time, the settlement process accelerated, stimulated by an increasingly sedentary agriculture. Nomadic groups persisted and there are still yurts in the northern steppes and in Kyrgyz mountains where the nomadic tradition continues to be intense. What is the link with the tapshan ? Among nomads, where the furniture was reduced to a minimum, the meals were taken on the ground. A carpet marked this place. Miniatures show that this marking was kept by the settled populations and that it takes the shape of raised space in the Court of the Khan. At first packed, the raised space was replaced by a platform, as underlined it Mourodkhon, to satisfy the need for comfort brought by the use of the wood and the air circulation.
Lastly, it should be noted that it is not uncommon to find in the Eastern and Asian world similar equipments which take different forms according to regions. Thus, I could see in a Vietnamese family in Hue a big platform of lacquered wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and with curved feet typical of Chinese furniture. This piece, kept for the grandmother who lay down there sometimes, was used formerly as a table as well as a bed. In Laos villages, there are rustic tapschans with a similar use. But it is in Central Asia where the tapchane has been developed, becoming in the house an essential part participating in the local lifestyle. Chiselled by the best craftsmen, it became a piece of choice. Nevertheless, the tourists rarely notice it. They remember grandiose monuments, folk shows, ceramics, carpets, suzanis, ikat-woven silks, meals and heat, but not the tapshans. As for me, it took the intervention of my daughters before I see in it the summary of a sensual and delicious lifestyle. What said the philosopher of Dushanbe about this ? Welcome, wisdom, poetry, Epicureanism. Four words, four feet which are facing less angelic realities, but are not civilizations paved of unfathomable contradictions ?
Let us go back to Samarkand. Murodkhon had spoken about the throne of Tamerlan. I had returned at the Gur Emir Mausoleum built by Tamerlan in 1404. Under a dome of bluish Plexiglas is a marble base with the sides engraved floral motives. I tried to represent me the sovereign, sitting cross-legged, dominating his audience on this monolith that symbolises eternity. On the miniatures of this time, we see him on various kinds of platforms, objects rather widespread in the Court. Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, previously mentioned, tells this : "On Thursday, October 9th, Khanzada, the most important wife of Mîrân Châh, eldest son of Timur Beg, hosted a big party where we were invited. The festivities were in the enclosure and in the beautiful tent which belonged to her. By approaching tents, we saw that numerous jars of wine were placed on the ground. We all advanced upon Khanzada, who stood under a parasol. She showed us a platform to sit. She was leaned on three or four pillows arranged on her own platform and, next to her, ladies were sat."
Ladies, wine, it should be noted, by the way, that the life in the Timur Court was rather rejoicing. No rejoicing without drunk men, said the tradition ! Among others rejoicings, let us also point out that Timur liked to build minarets of skulls and was an enthusiat of repeated murders accompanied by a sophisticated cruelty. The one who is now the national hero of Uzbeks had nothing to envy to Gengis Khan as regard mass destruction. But let us put aside the macabre escapades of the Lame and let us keep in mind that in his time, platforms with pillows existed in the Court and was used for agapes. Miniatures do not show the marble base but a kind of plateform reserved for the Prince, on which he takes place as on a throne, to listen the complaints of his subjects, dispense justice and discuss day-to-day matters with his dignitaries. We also see coexisting in the old miniatures several kinds of places having for use the meal, the snack, the meeting with relatives and friends. It is the place of the manifestation of hospitality. Different types can be distinguished : the carpet on the ground, the stone or earth terrace, the raised wooden platform, the platform with armrests, the platform with columns and roof which is close to the pavilion or to the big four-poster bed.
In The Empire of the Steppes, René Grousset quotes Song Yun, a Buddhist monk of the 6th century sent in search of sacred texts and who describes the nomads thus : "They do not live in towns ; their seat of government is a moving camp. Their dwellings are of felt. They move in search of water and pasture, journeying in summer to cool places and in winter to warmer ones. A large felt tent is erected for their king, measuring forty feet a side ; on the inside, the walls are made of woolen rugs. The king's clothes are of ornamented silk, and he sits on a golden bed of which the feet are in a shape of four golden phoenixes." Nomadic tribes have long characterized the population of Central Asia. Until the 16th century, nomadism was in a majority situation. From that time, the settlement process accelerated, stimulated by an increasingly sedentary agriculture. Nomadic groups persisted and there are still yurts in the northern steppes and in Kyrgyz mountains where the nomadic tradition continues to be intense. What is the link with the tapshan ? Among nomads, where the furniture was reduced to a minimum, the meals were taken on the ground. A carpet marked this place. Miniatures show that this marking was kept by the settled populations and that it takes the shape of raised space in the Court of the Khan. At first packed, the raised space was replaced by a platform, as underlined it Mourodkhon, to satisfy the need for comfort brought by the use of the wood and the air circulation.
Lastly, it should be noted that it is not uncommon to find in the Eastern and Asian world similar equipments which take different forms according to regions. Thus, I could see in a Vietnamese family in Hue a big platform of lacquered wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl and with curved feet typical of Chinese furniture. This piece, kept for the grandmother who lay down there sometimes, was used formerly as a table as well as a bed. In Laos villages, there are rustic tapschans with a similar use. But it is in Central Asia where the tapchane has been developed, becoming in the house an essential part participating in the local lifestyle. Chiselled by the best craftsmen, it became a piece of choice. Nevertheless, the tourists rarely notice it. They remember grandiose monuments, folk shows, ceramics, carpets, suzanis, ikat-woven silks, meals and heat, but not the tapshans. As for me, it took the intervention of my daughters before I see in it the summary of a sensual and delicious lifestyle. What said the philosopher of Dushanbe about this ? Welcome, wisdom, poetry, Epicureanism. Four words, four feet which are facing less angelic realities, but are not civilizations paved of unfathomable contradictions ?
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| Archaïques, les grands sofas d'Asie centrale ? Ce "Cay sofa" du designer suisse Alexander Rehn, avec ses lignes résolument contemporaines, ne s'inscrit-il pas dans la continuité du concept ? |
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